Open mike 04/06/2024
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- David now turns to Rodney with a stricken face
So here we are at the wedding of Alexandra Vincent Martelli and David Seymour.Look at all the happy prosperous guests! How proud Nick Mowbray looks of the gift he has made of a mountain of crap plastic toys stuffed into a Cybertruck.How they drink, how they laugh, how they mug ...6 hours ago - On why complaining about incompetent David Seymour’s School Lunches is the only rational respo...
Some continue to defend David Seymour on school lunches, sidestepping his errors to say:“Well the parents should pack their lunch” and/or “Kids should be grateful for free food.”One of these people is the sitting Prime Minister.So I put together a quick list of why complaint is not only appropriate - ...18 hours ago - Whistling Past The Graveyard.
“Bugger the pollsters!”WHEN EVERYBODY LIVED in villages, and every village had a graveyard, the expression “whistling past the graveyard” made more sense. Even so, it’s hard to describe the Coalition Government’s response to the latest Taxpayers’ Union/Curia Research poll any better. Regardless of whether they wanted to go there, or ...21 hours ago - Jane Kelsey – Transforming neoliberalism
Prof Jane Kelsey examines what the ACT party and the NZ Initiative are up to as they seek to impose on the country their hardline, right wing, neoliberal ideology. A progressive government elected in 2026 would have a huge job putting Humpty Dumpty together again and rebuilding a state that ...21 hours ago - Ain’t No Use
See I try to make a differenceBut the heads of the high keep turning awayThere ain't no useWhen the world that you love has goneOoh, gotta make a changeSongwriters: Arapekanga Adams-Tamatea / Brad Kora / Hiriini Kora / Joel Shadbolt.Aotearoa for Sale.This week saw the much-heralded and somewhat alarming sight ...24 hours ago - Bernard’s Pick ‘n’ Mix on Saturday, March 15
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom3, NZ Herald, Stuff, BusinessDesk-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT-$, WSJ-$, Bloomberg-$, New York Times-$, The Atlantic-$, The Economist-$ ...1 day ago - Is the New Zealand Healthcare System Doing Badly?
By international standards the New Zealand healthcare system appears satisfactory – certainly no worse generally than average. Yet it is undergoing another redisorganisation.While doing some unrelated work, I came across some international data on the healthcare sector which seemed to contradict my – and the conventional wisdom’s – view of ...2 days ago - Europe can still prevent a Russian victory
When Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, he knew that he was upending Europe’s security order. But this was more of a tactical gambit than a calculated strategy ...2 days ago - Labour draws a clear line in the sand on National’s privatisation binge
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Over the last year, I’ve been warning about Luxon’s pitch to privatise our public assets. He had told reporters in October that nothing was off the cards:Schools, hospitals, prisons, and ...2 days ago - Australia’s disaster response should build resilience
When ASPI’s Cyclone Tracy: 50 Years On was published last year, it wasn’t just a historical reflection; it was a warning. Just months later, we are already watching history repeat itself. We need to bake ...2 days ago
- Making it up as they go along
1. Why was school lunch provider The Libelle Group in the news this week?a. Grand Winner in Pie of The Yearb. Scored a record 108% on YELP c. Bought by Oravida d. Went into liquidation2. What did our Prime Minister offer prospective investors at his infrastructure investment jamboree?a. The Libelle ...2 days ago - Arbitrary or worse
Back in December, Lands Minister Chris Penk rejected proposals to recognise the proper names of Manawatū and Pito One. Both proposals were strongly supported by their communities and so recommended by Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa / New Zealand Geographic Board. Despite this, Penk rejected them. I was curious about ...2 days ago - The problems with PPPs
Here’s the excellent explainer on PPPs from over at that this chat was based on.Government's Investment SummitThis week, the Government is hosting a grand event aimed at trying to interest big foreign capital players in financing capital works in New Zealand, particularly its big rural motorway programme.Greater ...2 days ago - South Korea has acted decisively on DeepSeek. Other countries must stop hesitating
South Korea has suspended new downloads of DeepSeek, and it was were right to do so. Chinese tech firms operate under the shadow of state influence, misusing data for surveillance and geopolitical advantage. Any country ...2 days ago
- PPPs are more expensive, slower & riskier than Govt DIY
Previous big infrastructure PPPs such as Transmission Gully were fiendishly complicated to negotiate, generated massive litigation and were eventually rewritten anyway. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesLong stories shortest: The Government’s international investment conference ignores the facts that PPPs cost twice as much as vanilla debt-funded public infrastructure, often take ...2 days ago - Friday 14 March
Woolworths has proposed a major restructure of its New Zealand store operating model, leaving workers worried their hours and pay could be cut. Public servants are being asked how productive their office is, how much they use AI, and whether they’re overloaded with meetings as part of a “census”. An ...2 days ago - Weekly Roundup 14-March-2025
Midway through March already? The years flying by. Here’s some things we saw this week that caught our attention. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt took a look at AT’s Upper Harbour Bus changes. For Wednesday we had a guest post by Malcolm McCracken exploring what ...2 days ago - Bookshelf: technology, globalisation and civilisational decline
Robert Kaplan’s book Waste Land: A World in Permanent Crisis paints a portrait of civilisation in flux. Drawing insights from history, literature and art, he examines the effect of modern technology, globalisation and urbanisation on ...2 days ago
- Birds and Bees Grounded
Sexuality - Strong and warm and wild and freeSexuality - Your laws do not apply to meSexuality - Don't threaten me with miserySexuality - I demand equalitySong: Billy Bragg.First, thank you to everyone who took part in yesterday’s survey. Some questions worked better than others, but I found them interesting, ...2 days ago - Shit Yourself Happy
Hi,I just got back from a week in Japan thanks to the power of cheap flights and years of accumulated credit card points.The last time I was in Japan the government held a press conference saying they might take legal action against me and Netflix, so there was a little ...2 days ago - The Hoon around the week to March 14
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: on the week in geopolitics, including Donald Trump’s wrecking of the post-WW II political landscape; andHealth Coalition Aotearoa co-chair Lisa ...2 days ago
- Bernard’s pick n’ mix at 6am for Friday, March 14
Here’s my selection of the top scoops, news, analysis, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$$$, The Press-$$$, Newsroom & NZ Herald on Friday, March 14.Top Six at 6amExclusive: 'Shake-up is necessary' - NZME's biggest shareholder backs board cleanout NZ Herald-$$$’s Shayne CurrieGovt considers gett… ...2 days ago - Snapshots from Tokyo
Hi,I just got back from a short trip to Japan, mostly spending time in Tokyo.I haven’t been there since we shot Dark Tourist back in 2017 — and that landed us in a bit of hot water with the Japanese government.I am glad to report I was not thrown into ...2 days ago - Why I Regret Going Paid On Substack
I’ve been on Substack for almost 8 months now.It’s been good in terms of the many great individuals that populate its space. So much variety and intelligence and humour and depth.I joined because someone suggested I should ‘start a Substack,’ whatever that meant.So I did.Turning on payments seemed like the ...3 days ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2025
Open access notables Would Adding the Anthropocene to the Geologic Time Scale Matter?, McCarthy et al., AGU Advances: The extraordinary fossil fuel-driven outburst of consumption and production since the mid-twentieth century has fundamentally altered the way the Earth System works. Although humans have impacted their environment for millennia, justification for ...3 days ago - For a waterbombing reserve, adapt ADF aircraft
Australia should buy equipment to cheaply and temporarily convert military transport aircraft into waterbombers. On current planning, the Australian Defence Force will have a total of 34 Chinook helicopters and Hercules airlifters. They should be ...3 days ago
- Indonesia has cut funding for counterterrorism programs. Australia should step in
Indonesia’s government has slashed its counterterrorism (CT) budgets, despite the persistent and evolving threat of violent extremism. Australia can support regional CT efforts by filling this funding void. Reducing funding to the National Counterterrorism Agency ...3 days ago
- Drawn
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Resource Management (Prohibition on Extraction of Freshwater for On-selling) Amendment Bill (Debbie Ngarewa-Packer) The bill does exactly what it says on the label, and would effectively end the rapacious water-bottling industry ...3 days ago
- Fabian Fundraiser – Twilight Time
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- It’s time to rethink foreign aid
Foreign aid is being slashed across the Global North, nowhere more so than in the United States. Within his first month back in the White House, President Donald Trump dismantled the US Agency for International ...3 days ago
- Thursday 13 March
Nicola Willis has proposed new procurement rules that unions say will lead to pay cuts for already low-paid workers in cleaning, catering and security services that are contracted by government. The Crimes (Theft by Employer) Amendment Bill passed its third reading with support from all the opposition parties and NZ ...3 days ago
- Personal Link: The Cool One is Gone.
Most KP readers will not know that I was a jazz DJ in Chicago and Washington DC while in grad school in the early and mid 1980s. In DC I joined WPFW as a grave shift host, then a morning drive show host (a show called Sui Generis, both for ...3 days ago - Who Are You?
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Last year in October I wrote “Where’s The Opposition?”. I was exasperated at the relative quiet of the Green Party, Labour and Te Pati Māori (TPM), as the National led Coalition ticked off a full bingo card of the Atlas Network playbook.1To be fair, TPM helped to energise one of ...3 days ago
- Visualizing daily global temperatures
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An agreement to end the war in Ukraine could transform Russia’s relations with North Korea. Moscow is unlikely to reduce its cooperation with Pyongyang to pre-2022 levels, but it may become more selective about areas ...3 days ago
- Government’s Investment Summit
This week, the Government is hosting a grand event aimed at trying to interest big foreign capital players in financing capital works in New Zealand, particularly its big rural motorway programme. Financing vs funding: a quick explainer The key word in the sentence above is financing. It is important ...3 days ago
- Gordon Campbell On Winston Peters’ Battle Against The Phantom Legions Of The Woke
In a month’s time, the Right Honourable Winston Peters will be celebrating his 80th birthday. Good for him. On the evidence though, his current war on “wokeness” looks like an old man’s cranky complaint that the ancient virtues of grit and know-how are sadly lacking in the youth of today. ...4 days ago - Haul from the 2025 Regent Booksale
As noted, early March has been about moving house, and I have had little chance to partake in all things internet. But now that everything is more or less sorted, I can finally give a belated report on my visit to the annual Regent Booksale (28th February and 1st March). ...4 days ago - The threat spectrum
Information operations Australia has banned cybersecurity software Kaspersky from government use because of risks of espionage, foreign interference and sabotage. The Department of Home Affairs said use of Kaspersky products posed an unacceptable security ...4 days ago
- My life as a dog
4 days ago - Understanding ’ndrangheta operations in Australia
The ’ndrangheta, the Calabrian mafia, plays a significant role in the global cocaine trade and is deeply entrenched in Australia, influencing the cocaine trade and engaging in a variety of illicit activities. A range of ...4 days ago
- How to fight back against Trump’s tariffs
In the US, the Trump regime is busy imposing tariffs on its neighbours and allies, then revoking them, then reimposing them, permanently poisoning relations with Canada and Mexico. Trump has also threatened to impose tariffs on agricultural goods, which will affect Aotearoa's exports. National's response? To grovel for an exemption, ...4 days ago
- Global & Corporate Takeover of New Zealand Continues In Plain Sight
Troy Bowker’s Caniwi Capital’s Desmond Gittings, former TradeMe and Warehouse executive Simon West, former anonymous right wing blogger / Labour attacker & now NZ On Air Board member / Waitangi Tribunal member Philip Crump, Canadian billionaire Jim Grenon who used to run vaccine critical, Treaty of Waitangi critical, and trans-rights ...4 days ago - Fixing school lunches
The free school lunch program was one of Labour's few actual achievements in government. Decent food, made locally, providing local employment. So naturally, National had to get rid of it. Their replacement - run by Compass, a multinational which had already been thrown out of our hospitals for producing inedible ...4 days ago
- New procurement rules hurt low-income workers
New draft government procurement guidelines will remove living wage protections for thousands of low-paid workers in Aotearoa New Zealand, said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff. “The Minister of Finance Nicola Willis has proposed a new rule saying that the Living Wage no longer needs to be paid in ...4 days ago
- Member’s Day
Today is a Member's Day. First up is the Auckland Harbour Board and Takapuna Borough Council Empowering Act Amendment Bill, a local bill to alter the purposes for which some land in Auckland can be used. Following that is the third reading of Camilla Belich's Crimes (Theft by Employer) Amendment ...4 days ago
- The US dividing Russia from China? Forget about it
The Trump administration’s effort to divide Russia from China is doomed to fail. This means that the United States is destroying security relationships based on a delusion. To succeed, Russia would need to overcome more ...4 days ago
- Wednesday 12 March
Māori workers now hold more high-skilled jobs than low-skilled jobs with 46 percent in high-skilled jobs, 14 percent in skilled jobs, and 40 percent in low-skilled jobs. Resource teachers of literacy and Te Reo Māori are “devastated” by a proposal from the Education Minister to stop funding 174 roles from ...4 days ago
- Power of persistence: Australian technology addresses challenge of space monitoring
Knowing what is going on in orbit is getting harder—yet hardly less necessary. But new technologies are emerging to cope with the challenge, including some that have come from Australian civilian research. One example is ...4 days ago
- Maximising the value from our investment in the City Rail link
This is a guest post by Malcolm McCracken. It previously appeared on his blog Better Things Are Possible and is shared by kind permission. New Zealand’s largest infrastructure project, the City Rail Link (CRL), is expected to open in 2026. This will be an exciting step forward for Auckland, delivering better ...4 days ago
- Luxon wants media to celebrate National’s homelessness achievements more
“The reality is I'm just saying to you I'm proud of the work we're doing. We're doing a great job”, said Luxon, pushing back at Auckland Council’s reports of rising homelessness and pleas for help. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories shortest: Christopher Luxon denies his Government caused a ...4 days ago - Travel Advisory
Should I stay, or should I go now?Should I stay, or should I go now?If I go, there will be troubleAnd if I stay, it will be doubleSo come on and let me knowSongwriters: Topper Headon, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Joe Strummer.Christopher,Tomorrow marks seventeen months since the last election. We’re ...4 days ago - Auckland homelessness up 53% in 4 months, Wellington up 40% year on year
Homelessness in Auckland has risen by 53% in 4 months - that’s 653 people living in cars, on streets and in parks.The city’s emergency housing numbers have fallen by about 650 under National too - now at record lows.Housing First Auckland is on the frontlines: There is “more and more ...5 days ago
- More than ever, airpower will depend on sharing data. Watch Sweden
A growing consensus holds that the future of airpower, and of defense technology in general, involves the interplay of crewed and uncrewed vehicles. Such teaming means that more-numerous, less-costly, even expendable uncrewed vehicles can bring ...5 days ago
- All in all another brick in the wall of money
Only two more sleeps to the Government’s Jamboree Investor Extravaganza! As a proud New Zealander I’m very much hoping for the best: Off-shore wind farms! Solar power! Sustainable industry powered by the abundant energy we could be producing!I wonder, will they have a deal already lined up, something to announce ...5 days ago - Australia needs to manufacture change to ensure national security
After decades of gradual decline, Australia’s manufacturing capability is no longer mission-fit to meet national security needs. Any whole-of-nation effort to arrest this trend needs to start by making the industrial operating environment more conducive ...5 days ago
- This is why we have juries
Back in October 2022, Restore Passenger Rail hung banners across roads in Wellington to protest against the then-Labour government's weak climate change policy. The police responded by charging them not with the usual public order offences, but with "endangering transport", a crime with a maximum sentence of 14 years in ...5 days ago
- Luxon’s economy focus at odds with voters
Luxon’s popularity continues to fall, and a new survey shows voters rank fixing the health system as the top priority. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesLong stories shortest in Aotearoa’s political economy this morning: National’s pollster finds Christopher Luxon has fallen behind Chris Hipkins as preferred PM for the first ...5 days ago - Tuesday 11 March
The CTU is calling for an apology from Nicola Willis after her office made a false characterisation of CTU statements, which ultimately saw him blocked from future Treasury briefings. New data shows that Māori make up 83% of those charged under new gang laws. Financial incentives are being offered to ...5 days ago
- Protected: Fight Back Together May Day 2025 Resources
This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below: Password: The post Protected: Fight Back Together May Day 2025 Resources appeared first on NZCTU. ...5 days ago
- Australia needs to prevent cybercrime, not just react to it
Australia’s cyber capabilities have evolved rapidly, but they are still largely reactive, not preventative. Rather than responding to cyber incidents, Australian law enforcement agencies should focus on dismantling underlying criminal networks. On 11 December, Europol ...5 days ago
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This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters Finally, there’s some good news to report from NOAA, the parent organization of the National Hurricane Center, or NHC: During the highly active 2o24 Atlantic hurricane season, the NHC made record-accurate track forecasts at every time interval (12-, ...5 days ago
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The Australian government has prioritised enhancing Australia’s national resilience for many years now, whether against natural disasters, economic coercion or hostile armed forces. However, the public and media response to the presence of Chinese naval ...5 days ago
- Upper Habour Bus change a step towards rapid transit
It appears that Auckland Transport is finally set to improve Auckland’s busiest non-frequent bus route, the 120. As highlighted in my post a month ago on Auckland’s busiest bus routes, the 120 is the busiest route that doesn’t already run frequently all day/week and carries more passengers than many other ...5 days ago
- Gordon Campbell On The Government’s Stubborn Refusal To Invest For Growth
Economists have earned their reputation for jargon and tunnel vision, but sometimes, it takes an someone as perceptive as Simplicity economist Shamubeel Eaqub to identify something simple and devastating. As he pointed out recently, the coalition government is trying to attract foreign investment here to generate economic growth, while – ...6 days ago
- 5 Extraordinary Revelations From Deloitte’s Health NZ Review
Opinion & AnalysisSimeon Brown, left, and Deloitte partner David LovattIn September 2024, Deloitte Partner David Lovatt, was contracted by the National Government to help National ostensibly understand “the drivers behind HNZ’s worsening financial performance”.1 i.e. deficit.The report shows the last version was dated December 2024.It was formally released this week ...6 days ago - All the Toey Horses
This cobbled-together government was altogether more the beneficiary of Labour getting turfed out than anything it managed to do itself. Even the worthless cheques they were writing didn't buy all that much favour.How’s it all looking now?Shall we take a look at a Horizon poll?The Government’s performance is making only ...6 days ago - Aotearoa should sign the Disappearance Convention
There's horrible news from the US today, with the Trump regime disappearing Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University student, for protesting against genocide in Gaza. Its another significant decline in US human rights, and puts them in the same class as the authoritarian dictatorships they used to sponsor in South ...6 days ago
- Judging their own case
Yesterday National announced plans to amend the Public Works Act to "speed up" land acquisition for public works. Which sounds boring and bureaucratic - except its not. Because what "land acquisition" means is people's homes being compulsorily acquired by the state - which is inherently controversial, and fairly high up ...6 days ago
- Leadership Problems.
Contenders: The next question after “Will Luxon really go?” is, of course, “Will that work?” The answer to that question lies not so much in the efficacy of Luxon’s successor as it does in the perceived strength of the Centre-Left alternative.AT LEAST TWO prominent political commentators are alluding publicly to the ...6 days ago
- It’s Only Natural
Ice will melt, water will boilYou and I can shake off this mortal coilIt's bigger than usYou don't have to worry about itIt's circumstantialIt's nothing written in the skyAnd we don't even have to trySongwriters: Neil Finn / Tim Finn.Preparing for the future.Many of you will be familiar with the ...6 days ago - On the way ahead
In my post last Thursday I offered some thoughts on changes that should be initiated by the government in the wake of the Governor’s surprise resignation. (Days on we still have no real explanation as to why he just resigned with no notice, disappearing out the door and (eg) leaving ...6 days ago - Chinese navy transit: opinions in The Strategist
In late February a Chinese navy flotilla including a cruiser, a frigate and a replenishment ship began to circle Australia, conducting a live fire exercise in the Tasman Sea along the way. The Strategist featured ...6 days ago
- Shane Jones has no shame
Shane Jones’ display on Q&A showed how out of touch he and this Government are with our communities and how in sync they are with companies with little concern for people and planet. ...2 hours ago - Release: National botches health funding numbers
Health Minister Simeon Brown’s claim that the Government has put $16.68 billion into the health system over three years is wrong. ...1 day ago - Government tramples on the rights of disabled migrant children
The Green Party is condemning the Government’s move to tighten access to visas for disabled children. ...2 days ago
- Release: Auckland needs second harbour crossing
Labour supports Minister Chris Bishop’s call for input on the second Waitematā Harbour crossing. ...2 days ago
- Speech: Barbara Edmonds’ speech to NZ Investment Summit 2025
I am grateful to have the opportunity to speak to you today about how we make overseas investment work for all New Zealanders. ...2 days ago
- Release: Labour does not support PPPs for prisons
Labour does not support the private ownership of core infrastructure like schools, hospitals and prisons, which will only see worse outcomes for Kiwis. ...2 days ago
- Dunedin Futures report should be a wake-up call
The newly released report on the South Dunedin Future Programme must be a wake-up call for our Government. ...2 days ago
- Release: Members’ Bill makes wage theft a crime
Workers will now be able to go to the Police and report their employer if they are not being paid wages they’re owed. ...3 days ago
- Missed opportunity to stop the stealing of Māori land
The Green Party is disappointed the Government voted down Hūhana Lyndon’s member’s Bill, which would have prevented further alienation of Māori land through the Public Works Act. ...4 days ago
- Release: Labour supports sanctions against Israel’s illegal occupation
The Labour Party will support Chloe Swarbrick’s member’s bill which would allow sanctions against Israel for its illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territories. ...4 days ago
- Release: Govt procurement plan cuts wages and trashes the environment
The Government’s new procurement rules are a blatant attack on workers and the environment, showing once again that National’s priorities are completely out of touch with everyday Kiwis. ...4 days ago
- Procurement proposals pose risk to people and planet
The Green Party is concerned by the impact the Government’s proposed changes to procurement processes could have on people and planet. ...4 days ago
- Just six Government MPs needed to pass Unlawful Occupation of Palestine Sanctions Bill
With Labour and Te Pāti Māori’s official support, Opposition parties are officially aligned to progress Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick’s Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in Palestine. ...4 days ago
- Release: Labour’s approach to Māori economy benefits all
Under Labour, the Māori economy went from strength to strength according to the latest report released by MBIE. ...5 days ago
- 20 Years of Success Down the Drain: Govt Gut Whānau Ora
Te Pāti Māori extends our deepest aroha to the 500 plus Whānau Ora workers who have been advised today that the govt will be dismantling their contracts. For twenty years , Whānau Ora has been helping families, delivering life-changing support through a kaupapa Māori approach. It has built trust where ...1 week ago
- Green Party launches petition to allow Pacific whānau visa-free access
The Green Party is launching a petition calling on the Government to extend visa-free travel to visitors from Pacific Island nations. ...1 week ago
- Release: Labour welcomes reinstatement of Heath NZ board
Labour welcomes Simeon Brown’s move to reinstate a board at Health New Zealand, bringing the destructive and secretive tenure of commissioner Lester Levy to an end. ...1 week ago
- NZ’s Public Health system dealt yet another blow
This morning’s announcement by the Health Minister regarding a major overhaul of the public health sector levels yet another blow to the country’s essential services. ...1 week ago
- Release: Chris Hipkins’ State of the Nation address
Ngā mihi ki a koutou katoa It is a great pleasure to be here with you this morning. ...1 week ago
- NZ First Introduces Bill to Remove Woke ‘DEI’ Regulations from Public Service
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill that will ensure employment decisions in the public service are based on merit and not on forced woke ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’ targets. “This Bill would put an end to the woke left-wing social engineering and diversity targets in the public sector. ...1 week ago - Release: Labour outlines priorities of next Govt
The next Labour Government will prioritise jobs, health and homes so Kiwis and Kiwi businesses have the opportunity to thrive. ...1 week ago
- Release: Refreshed team to drive Labour’s 2026 priorities
Labour leader Chris Hipkins has unveiled a new economic team as part of a caucus reshuffle. ...1 week ago
- Release: Labour calls for end to police referrals to Destiny programmes
Police have referred 20 offenders to Destiny Church-affiliated programmes Man Up and Legacy as ‘wellness providers’ in the last year, raising concerns that those seeking help are being recruited into a harmful organisation. ...1 week ago
- Good Riddance: Prebble Resigns from Waitangi Tribunal
Te Pāti Māori welcomes the resignation of Richard Prebble from the Waitangi Tribunal. His appointment in October 2024 was a disgrace- another example of this government undermining Te Tiriti o Waitangi by appointing a former ACT leader who has spent his career attacking Māori rights. “Regardless of the reason for ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour calls on Govt to condemn Israel’s aid blockade
The National Government needs to publicly condemn Israel’s cutting off of aid supplies to the war-ravaged people of Gaza. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Mark Mitchell missing in action
Police Minister Mark Mitchell is avoiding accountability by refusing to answer key questions in the House as his Government faces criticism over their dangerous citizen’s arrest policy, firearm reform, and broken promises to recruit more police. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Fewer houses, consents down under National
The number of building consents issued under this Government continues to spiral, taking a toll on the infrastructure sector, tradies, and future generations of Kiwi homeowners. ...2 weeks ago
- Govt urged to rule out any involvement in AUKUS
The Green Party is calling on the Prime Minister to rule out joining the AUKUS military pact in any capacity following the scenes in the White House over the weekend. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: PSA survey proves Govt’s cuts are hurting patients
The National Government’s decision to cut jobs and freeze recruitment of health care workers is hurting frontline services and harming patients. ...2 weeks ago
- Government levels another blow at kaupapa Māori education
The Green Party is appalled by the Government’s plan to disestablish Resource Teachers of Māori (RTM) roles, a move that takes another swing at kaupapa Māori education. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour PR: More clarity needed for homebuyers
The Government’s levies announcement is a step in the right direction, but they must be upfront about who will pay its new infrastructure levies and ensure that first-home buyers are protected from hidden costs. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: More clarity needed for homebuyers
The Government’s levies announcement is a step in the right direction, but they must be upfront about who will pay its new infrastructure levies and ensure that first-home buyers are protected from hidden costs. ...2 weeks ago
- Greens welcome pause of works at Lake Rotokākahi and call for council to work constructively with m...
After months of mana whenua protecting their wāhi tapu, the Green Party welcomes the pause of works at Lake Rotokākahi and calls for the Rotorua Lakes Council to work constructively with Tūhourangi and Ngāti Tumatawera on the pathway forward. ...2 weeks ago
- The week in review
New Zealand First continues to bring balance, experience, and commonsense to Government. This week we've made progress on many of our promises to New Zealand. Winston representing New Zealand Winston Peters is overseas this week, with stops across the Middle East and North Asia. Winston's stops include Saudi Arabia, the ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Govt abandons retailers with citizen’s arrests
The Government’s expansion of citizen’s arrest powers leaves retailers on their own to deal with crime on their premises. ...3 weeks ago
- Co-Leaders announce plans to launch Green Budget this year
Green Party Co-Leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick have announced the party’s plans to deliver a Green Budget this year to offer an alternative vision to the Government’s trickle-down economics and austerity politics. ...3 weeks ago
- State of the Planet speeches, 2025
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Every time I turn on the radio I hear Luxon or Willis crapping on about "fiscal cliffs" and "fiscal holes" left by Labour – and especially so in justifying the CoC's failure to fund the 13 promised cancer drugs.
The story of these supposed cliffs and holes is in danger of becoming the received wisdom of the day. My understanding is that time-limited funding is quite normal, and that when a time-limited programme is going to be continued, it is covered through the operating allowance. Therefore, the continuation of time-limited programmes becomes problematic only if a government decides to radically cut the operating allowance – as Willis has done in this budget, and Labour had no intention of doing.
If this is right (and I'm open to correction), why the hell are Hipkins and Barbara Edmonds not calling press conference after press conference and screaming to the rafters about the lies?
Absolutely agree AB. I suspect it's too late.
It is concerning, the apparent lack of an opposition particularly Labour.
From Shane Jones blatant disregard for the environment, Luxon and crew's broken promises (as listed by Incognito) through to Taxpayers Union filming in parliament.
These are just easy points to make while also detailing what Labour would do differently.
I hope the Opposition are busy strategising, and not just doing damage limitation on the back foot. It's probably ok they take some time this year to sort their shit out (all the opposition parties).
I do too, (strategising), but for an organisation that big is it too much to ask that they walk and chew gum?
I still cut Labour some slack because of the pandemic. Few really acknowledged the toll of working under such high prolonged stress in what is an already stressful job. Whatever is going on with individuals, that's going to have impacted on organisational aspects.
That's not an excuse, but I don't think hard man NZ is the way out of something like that. It's not like we're out of the pandemic's shadow either.
Our government has changed, so (of necessity
) shitty (regressive) short-term 'planning' has gone up a gear – gotta absorb billions in tax relief to landLords somehow. By the time the shit really hits the fan/polls, current govt MPs will be planning their next stint in opposition (or, in the case of canny Winston First MPs, in govt) – either that or a new role in the private sector and/or consultancy.
Of the 60 headlines on Scoop's first page of "Latest Parliament Headlines":
47 are from the govt, govt departments, ministers or parties of the govt
4 are from the Labour party
7 are from the Green party
1 is from Te Pāti Māori
1 is from FIRST Union (?)
Hang on, there’s another one from Labour late this morning:
Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone…
Like most of us, opposition parties may be strategising about how best to apportion their efforts and resources between mitigation and adaptation (to govt shit), real opportunities for mitigation being few and far between for the next wee while.
Re "sort their shit out", thank goodness they don't have to please everyone.
Are you saying that the Opposition is impotent due to circumstance?
Yes, largely impotent – there being few opportunities to mitigate (the effects of) govt shit (policies), due to the circumstance of being in opposition and (to quote Belladonna) "the highly oppositional nature of NZ politics".
The opposition isn't completely impotent, but typically it can influence parliamentary legislation only with (some) govt support (bipartisanship). The willingness of NZF/ACT to support a Green Party bill is a (rare) example.
Imho [and this is very much a case of do as I suggest, not as I do], Aotearoa NZ would be better off if there was greater parliamentary agreement/consensus on major long-term infrastructure projects (ferries on/off), health policies (smoking ban/repeal; Pharmac funding), minimum wage increases (above / below inflation), Māori seats/wards (good/bad), climate change initiatives (more/less EV incentives; realistic commitments to agricultural emissions reductions), increasing the age of eligibility for superannuation (yes/no), taxation, etc. etc. But politics is adversarial, so our representatives expend energy disagreeing, rather than working towards compromise/consensus. And why not, when a party can reverse its policy on some issues from one election to the next, acclimatising Kiwis to yo-yo / start-stop / flip-flop politics.
https://www.interest.co.nz/rural-news/122531/guy-trafford-finds-nationals-opportunistic-climate-policy-flip-flops
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/490887/national-s-backdown-on-bipartisan-housing-accord-a-massive-flip-flop-sepuloni
Political division/polarisation rules, resulting in a quite dysfunctional state of political affairs: three steps forward and two back, or two steps forward and three back, depending on your PoV, issue by issue, govt by govt.
Sure, our pandemic response wasn't perfect, but it was better than many.
Now our Minister for Climate Change can turn his attention to achieving cross-party consensus for a way forward on global warming mitigation – maybe a first step would be to agree that civilisation on spaceship Earth doesn't have the luxury of time to persist with a "going slower to go faster" approach.
The only difference between time limited and non time limited funding is, you explicitely said the time limited funding was planned to end earlier on in your forecast.
As the CoC has demonstrated this doesn't actually imply any funding will continue or that other additional budget priorities won't be pursued anyway. The main thing Willis statements highlight is how committed to making budget cuts this govt are.
Professor Chris Jackson, oncologist writes in Newsroom:
https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/06/04/cancer-patients-will-die-waiting-on-govts-failed-election-promise/
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350292093/government-halts-new-school-build-nightmare-commute-continues
Imagine voting for national as most in omokora would I'd guess, and have them cancel your new school!!
Nah, it's all good. It's Labour's fault.
Diverting funds to sort out those choked roads by funding more orange cones so job done.
The good folk of omokoroa will have to use all that extra cash they're getting from Nicola on transport costs…. sorted.
Are any of the motor companies thinking of importing those inexpensive EVs, the ones that Biden wants to impose a 100% tarrif on.
I'd have to rank Obrador's Presidential continuity to Sheinbaum as an outstanding left-politics lineage that has been carefully orchestrated and fought for.
https://www.thenation.com/article/world/andres-manuel-lopez-obrador-legacy-interview/
This article on The Nation interviews several left Mexican analysts on what to expect from this new left president, and some of the continuity to Obrador.
Crazy- turns out most industries need decades of consistent government to function and putting in crazy powers legislation and calling any concerns every name under the sun is very bad for business as
a)it makes locals notice you and b) automatically think badly of your business and industry almost irrespective of what you do.
Perhaps a short dose of the worst government in half a century may be worth it if the opposition get their act together.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/04-06-2024/shane-jones-pro-mining-culture-war-risks-destroying-the-industry-he-loves
Great to see an experienced ex-MBIE bureaucrat with sector knowledge giving a sage view of the impact of politics on regulation and on the mining industry generally.
I was up at the central Otago Macrae gold mine on the weekend, and what used to be a constrained operation in the 1990s is now of a scale that the entire state highway has been shifted a couple of kilometres to accommodate new mining, there are two massive dewatering lakes on either side of the road, and the tailings are of a scale that they have formed their own range.
There's every reason to believe the new mine being prepared behind Tarras will be just as massive and with a similar scale of environmental effects.
Believe it or not, it is this scale of landscape alteration that is the dominant mode since the founding of New Zealand.
And all that to extract a metal which looks nice but can't actually be used for making anything useful (apart from some bits and pieces of electronics), and which is only valuable because everyone's decided to agree that it is.
"… if the opposition get their act together. "
Yes a massive IF given the free hits available already across the board. They must start now and be consistent with this useless owned Media unable to ask basic questions like 'how does not exploring over the last few years for oil and gad solve electricity demand today minister brown ?'
The modern pickpockets.
https://prospect.org/economy/2024-06-03-age-of-recoupment/
I think Labour and the Greens have been trying to get attention but maybe it just doesn’t get past the editors. TPM get some attention but only by making some quite outlandish demands and statements, that’s their job but it may well be counter productive. McAnulty comes across well, very considered with a nice sly humour. I think that is working well.